Documenting the American Dream by Randy Kim

Tereza Lee will be speaking at the Taste of Asia at NIU on Thursday, April 4th, and performing as the headlining act for the DREAM concert on Saturday, April 6th.

Tereza Lee will be speaking at the Taste of Asia at NIU on Thursday, April 4th, and performing as the headlining act for the DREAM concert on Saturday, April 6th. (Posted By rakim6783, Community Contributor)

rakim6783, Community Contributor

“I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America….” are the words that echo across the hallways in every classroom in America each morning. They were the words that Tereza Lee recited each morning as a child. It was those words that confronted her darkest secret: She was living in the United States as an undocumented immigrant.

The Beginning:

Born on January 12th, 1983, and the oldest of 3, Tereza Lee was born in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Her parents were from Seoul, Korea, but after the Korean War, they lost their family land, and grew up in deep poverty as the country itself was also mired in economic poverty, years before it became one of the top global markets.

Faced with a bleak future, Tereza’s parents decided to move to Brazil. They started their own business, and became conversely fluent in Portuguese. Soon afterwards, Tereza and her middle brother were born. However, their hopes for a permanent, successful family life in Brazil were crushed when they became victims of identity theft.

Their life savings vanished, but for them, their confidence and hopes were shattered.

Devastated by what had happened, Tereza’s parents had to turn elsewhere. There was no future for them in Korea, and Brazil no longer became a home to them. Tereza said, “My parents saw America as their family future. It was the place that everyone always talked about, and admired.”

With their savings depleted, and their business unsuccessful, her family had to find a way to afford airplane tickets. Tereza continued, “My mom had to sell her wedding ring in order for us to come to America. It was our only chance.”

They arrived in New York, with Tereza at only 2 years old, and her second brother at 6 months. They would start their new life in Chicago.

A Family in Hiding

They arrived in Chicago, and settled in the Albany Park neighborhood on the Chicago Far North side where the Korean population was starting to thrive, and would soon garner the nickname “Koreatown.” Tereza’s parents struggled time and time again to get approved for legal status.

Her youngest brother was born, and he was the only one in his family that became a US-born citizen. Her mom began working odd jobs. Her father became an ordained pastor. However, it did not lead to any financial stability.

“We were living in a basement. It was infested with rodents and insects. The basement flooded each time it would rain,” Tereza continued, “We had to boil water in order to have a hot bath.”

Food was also scarce in the household. “We were on the free lunch program at school. We relied so much on that program to help provide us food,” Tereza recalled.

Social life was almost non-existent. Due to her family being undocumented, they faced everyday fears of being caught and deported. Tereza remembers the everyday fear growing up, “my father ordered us never to reveal to anyone about our status. We were not allowed to have any friends, be close with our teachers, family friends, and anybody else. We didn’t have birthday parties or were ever allowed to attend one,” Tereza continues, “My family lived in constant paranoia. Whenever there was a cop, we were terrified.”

There were reasons for her family’s fear. If caught, her parents would be sent to Korea. Tereza and her second brother would have been deported to Brazil, and her youngest brother would be living in the US under foster care. The risk was too great, and they would risk not only being deported, but to be barred from seeing each other for 10 years. Those risks would later test the family at its difficult moments.

Her youngest brother was walking on the street one day when suddenly, a car struck and nearly killed him. The driver was at fault as she was talking on her cell phone. Aware of their status, her parents refused to press charges against the driver, and would be left to pay the medical bills, which they could not afford.

Despite the everyday risks, Tereza became academically successful, maintaining solid grades, and earning recommendations from her school that she should skip a grade. However, her father refused to have her daughter skip a grade because that would mean filling out paperwork that could also potentially reveal their family’s unknown status.

“Despite trying my best in school, I felt defeated that I could not live my American dream,” she said. However, a skill, she had learned at the age of 7, would provide her solace and escapism from her daily troubles, but more importantly, it gave her the only hope she had for herself and for her family.

A Musician in the Making….

Tereza remembers, “I first started playing the piano at age 7 to accompany my father’s church congregation services on Sundays. I quickly fell in love with it because I knew that I would become very good at it. I thought that if I become great at it, I would be able to help our family, and that one day, people will take notice of it, and not want me and my family to get deported.”

Reflecting on her experience as a young performer, “To learn to play the piano better, I knew I needed a teacher, so I went into the Merit School of Music on January 1999, I auditioned and got accepted on a scholarship.”

She would soon be asked to perform at several concerts and other performances. She felt she had a place in music, and planned to devote her entire life to playing the piano.

The Reveal

As she was entering her final year in high school, her peers were already filling out college applications, and speaking with their counselors about their future. Meanwhile, Tereza decided not to join the rest of her peers in doing that. Tereza remembered, "I had my mind set on making my career playing the piano, as there was no way that any college was going to accept someone who is undocumented."

One particular moment changed all of that. Ms. Ann Monaco, the Merit School of Music Director, came up to her and asked her how her college applications were going. Tereza told her that college was not in her future. Tereza remembers, “I saw the look on Ms. Monaco’s face, and she was incredibly shocked. Ms. Monaco couldn’t believe it. I had the grades to get into a good university.” Ms. Monaco, unconvinced that Tereza wasn’t going to college, persuaded her to fill out several college applications. The rejections came in quickly and swiftly. Ms. Monaco looked at one of her college applications and noticed two glaring lines that caught her attention: her birthplace, which was listed as Brazil, and the missing social security number. She confronted Tereza about those two lines, and it was at that moment that Tereza would finally confess for the first time in her life that she was undocumented.

Tereza vividly remembers that moment, “I broke down and cried.” Tereza tried to explain to her what had happened, "Ms. Monaco looked confused by the confession of my undocumented status." Ms. Monaco decided to investigate, but not without reassuring Tereza that her secret would be safe with her.

Ms. Monaco researched Tereza’s case, and came up with no answers. Ann took Tereza under her wings, and gave her the comfort she desperately needed during that time. Still determined to find answers for Tereza, she decided to share her story to Senator Durbin’s office. Despite her family’s repeated warnings about not revealing it to anyone, Tereza consented to having her story be told to Senator Durbin. Tereza commented, “I knew I could trust Ann. Once I had told her my story, I could easily feel the caring, warmth, and security she gave me when I need it the most.”

“Although my parents were very afraid, the secret was out, and there was nothing they could do, but wait. I assured them that we could trust Ms. Monaco.”

Senator Durbin was responsive to Ms. Monaco’s request, and drafted a personal bill on behalf of Tereza. When stories of other undocumented students like Tereza’s emerged, Senator Durbin redrafted Tereza’s personal bill into one of national interest, the DREAM Act – that would allow undocumented students with no criminal record to have temporary legal status, and allow them to go to college, or serve in the military.

Meanwhile, Tereza was accepted into the Manhattan School of Music on a scholarship.

In Spring 2001, the bill was drafted, and there would be a Senate hearing later on that Fall. However, the date for the hearing was September 12th, the day after the World Trade Center and Pentagon attacks. Tereza looks back at that event, “We were supposed to fly out to Washington DC on the day of the attacks. It was such a traumatizing moment for all of us, and for America at that time. Unfortunately, we never had that hearing.” The 9/11 attacks, however, put a dark cloud over the immigration debate. Anti-immigrant sentiments emerged, and attempts at reigniting immigration reform support including the DREAM act failed on several occasions. The effects of 9/11 would continue to haunt Tereza and millions of undocumented immigrants to this day.

Tragedy

The DREAM bill was reintroduced in 2003, only to have it fail. Her future was in jeopardy.

That summer, Tereza stayed with Ms. Monaco at her home. Ms. Monaco took care of Tereza, and helping to reassure her. Tereza remembers fondly of that summer, “I became close to Ms. Monaco. She was there with me every step of the way. She was the first person that knew about me being undocumented. She was my confidant. She guided me when she took me to the Senator’s office. She taught me how to fight for my rights. She taught me how to be unafraid, and most importantly, she believed in me.”

On one fateful summer morning, Tereza found out that Ann wouldn’t be there anymore. Ms. Monaco, age 57, was tragically killed by a drunk driver. Tereza was devastated. Visibly emotional, Tereza spoke about her loss, “Ann was a role model to me. She was my mother figure. She was the person I could only trust and look up to. She fought for me. She was the reason why I was in college so I could pursue my biggest ambitions. I felt so isolated and I became suicidal.”

Emotionally dejected, and with her future more in doubt, she also looked at potentially deporting herself back to Brazil. Tereza said, "I had given up hope on America, and lost Ms. Monaco. I started to learn Portuguese, and I was ready to surrender myself to the authorities. I was prepared to go back to a country that I was born in, but knew virtually nothing about.”

A Dream Come True

In the midst of her struggles, Tereza met Danny at the Manhattan School of Music They both fell in love and got married.

With her marriage, she proudly took her oath of citizenship in 2010. Tereza remembers that moment, “I could not believe that a flimsy piece of paper had the power that said I was American, when I felt American all my life,” she continues, “I remembered the first time being able to vote, and I never forgot the look on that lady’s face at the registration table when I couldn’t stop smiling. I knew I was finally able to live my life without fear, but I wasn’t finished.”

The DREAM Act still hasn’t passed, and neither has comprehensive immigration reform. Tereza laments, “The taste of being undocumented will never leave me, it is engraved within me forever. I will fight for immigrant rights until the law serves the American people of today.”

The DREAM act bill in 2010 passed the House, but failed the Senate by 5 votes due to filibustering by Republican Senate members.

She continued to face adversity as her father died 5 years ago of kidney failure. “My father needed a kidney transplant, but the hospital refused to take him because one, he didn’t have insurance and second, he was undocumented.

With President Obama using his executive order to enforce the recent “Deferred Action” which allowed college-eligible undocumented youths temporary status in order to pursue college or the military, and not face deportation for 2 years, there are signs that the attitude towards immigration reform, Tereza cautiously sees hope this time around.

On Thursday, April 4th, Tereza will be sharing her journey at the Taste of Asia as part of the Asian American Heritage Month at Northern Illinois University (NIU).

On Saturday, April 6th, Tereza Lee will be the headlining performance act for the DREAM Benefit concert at Alliance Holiness Church on 4926 N. Kimball Ave, Chicago, Il, as she will be among other Asian American performers who will share their story through music, visuals, and words. The benefit will go towards the DREAM scholarship fund.

As she is paying close attention to the comprehensive immigration reform that is being currently worked on in the Senate, she wants to send a clear message to all of the politicians, “Human rights comes first, and the economy will follow.” As she has lived a life of triumph and tragedy, much like a classical opera piece, she looks forward to seeing the same beauty and hope that comes from her experience in music transfer into the lives of millions of undocumented immigrants.

For more info:

For more information about the NIU event, please visit: http://www.niu.edu/aac/events/Taste%20of%20Asia.shtml

For more information about the DREAM Benefit concert, please visit: http://www.chicagokrcc.org/en/dreamconcert.htm